Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Jerry Lockspeiser: Should business get involved in politics? Like it or not, we already are

Published: 22 February, 2024

Back in the good old days when my life involved selling millions of bottles of Hungarian wine to the UK’s major retailers, I made an appointment with the buyer at Sainsbury’s. They bought from one of our competitors and were proving a hard nut for me to crack. Buyers often kept suppliers waiting beyond the appointed time, so I settled down with my copy of The Guardian in anticipation.

UKH calls for campaign to save London

Published: 01 September, 2020

UK Hospitality (UKH) and more than 90 London-based hospitality business leaders have warned that unless there is a co-ordinated campaign to encourage tourists and office workers back to the capital, the sector is at “real risk of failure”.

Ed Miliband advocates targeted extension of furlough

Published: 05 June, 2020

Ed Miliband MP has shown his support for a targeted extension of the JRS in an interview this morning on BBC 4 Radio’s Today show.

Coronavirus: No plans to enforce on-trade closures

Published: 19 March, 2020

The Prime Minister has confirmed that there are no timelines or plans in place to enforce restaurants, bars or pubs to close as long as the advice given by the government is followed by the public.

Spotlight on 2020: Hugh Sturges, Jeroboams

Published: 19 December, 2019

As we prepare for the new decade, Harpers will be taking the month of December to look back over 2019 and ahead to what the coming year will bring – hopefully full of revived optimism for both politics and the trade.

Mixing politics and wine

Published: 22 November, 2019

What attracted me to wine journalism nine years ago was that the stories were about the wine and the people, not cocaine-fuelled celebrity mishaps or sexual exploits involving a reverse osmosis machine. The beauty of wine was that, by and large, there was no 'news.'

Jerry Lockspeiser: How should the wine trade vote on 12 December?

Published: 22 November, 2019

Running west along London’s Southbank on the section after the London Eye, with the Houses of Parliament to the right across the River Thames and just before Lambeth bridge, I came across a red van selling hot drinks. The side of the van was emblazoned with the words SINGLE ORIGIN HOT CHOCOLATE.

Boris Johnson - What does the trade think about the new MP?

Published: 07 August, 2019

Everyone has an opinion on Boris Johnson. But what does the wine and spirits industry think about the new PM and the direction in which he is taking Brexit? Lisa Riley finds out

Brexit: Need to know

Published: 02 July, 2019

With speculation still rife as to whether the UK will walk away from the EU with or without a deal, Jo Gilbert sat down with the Wine & Spirit Trade Association’s European & international affairs director, Simon Stannard, to answer some of the pressing questions around the movement of goods.

LWF’s Ross Carter: The exit interview

Published: 25 May, 2017

Three days of the London Wine Fair (LWF) is quickly drifting into a blur of meetings, conversations, debates and of course, tastings of some truly fabulous wines.